Trailer front wheel and steering device



Nov. 18, 1947. lF. c. BURT TRAILER FRONT WHEEL AND STEERING DEVICE 4Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 22, 1945 mTl MN R K I m01. M m f N@ MX mN.\R Q/Emw Nw ow A NR B /\m.\ ox umm. EXT V ATTORNEYS fls, 1947.

. F, C. BURT `TRAILER FRONT WHEEL VAND STEERING DEVICE 4 Sheets-SheetFiled Aug. '22, 1945l INVENTOR.

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TRAILER FRONT WHEEL AND STEERING DEVICE Filed Aug. 22, 1945 4sheeltssheet s E EE Nov. 18, 1947.

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F. c. BURT TRAILER FRONT WHEEL AND STEERING DEVICE Filed Aug. 22, y192154 sheets-sheet 4 Patente-d Nov. 18, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICETRAILER FRONT WHEEL AND STEER/ING DEVICE 8 Claims.

My present invention, in its broad. aspect, has reference toimprovements in trailer front wheels and supports, means for steeringthe same, and means for resiliently mounting the same and adjusting thesame. More particularly, it is my purpose to remove the weight exertedby a trailer ci the usual type upon the towing vehicle and at the sametime steer the trailer so that it will automatically follow the towingvehicle, and I also provide means whereby the tongue or draw bar canmove up and down thus easing the shocks on the towing vehicle, and atthe same time, there is provided a weight adjustment spring arrangementwhereby any amount of weight transferred to the towing'vehicle may bevaried, which is an advantage where more traction is needed as whentraversing slippery roads or where the trailer is unusually heavy. Mypresent wheel and carrier supports the front end oi the trailer, therebyrelieving the towing vehicle, and it is not necessary to jack-up or liitthe iront end of the trailer in hooking to the towing vehicle, and thefront wheel may be used to steer and assist in parking and supportingthe trailer when it has been detached from the towing vehicle, Thetrailer has no elaborate hitch and the possibility of shimmy is greatlyreduced if not completely eliminated. No helper springs are required onthe towing vehicle; the steering arrangement has means for reducingfriction to facilitate steering and to eliminate wear, and. the frontwheel is resiliently mounted and may be easily removed if desired,furthermore, the use of the front wheel enables setting the rear wheelsfurther back on the trailer so that the trailer is steadied and may bebuilt closer to the ground, and the trailer may be backed in the usualmanner.

Other and equally important objects and advantages of my invention willbe apparent from the following description and drawings, and it ispointed out that changes in form, size, shape, materials, andconstruction and arrangement of parts is permissible and within thepurview of my broad inventive concept, and the scope of the appendedclaims.

In the drawings wherein I have illustrated a preferred form of myinvention: Figure 1 is a top plan view of my invention;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a detailed front end View of the support and shackleswhereby my device is hitched to the rear axle and drive shaft housing ofthe towing vehicle;

Figure 4 is a section of the support and shackles shown in Figure 3taken on the line 1 4 thereof;

Figure 5 is a front view of the bracket for attaching the transversesteering rod or bar to the support;

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the bracket for attaching the transversesteering Ibar or rod;

Figure 7 is a detailed plan view of the part of my device coupled withthe towing vehicle and including the steering cables, the supportingradius therefor and the tongue;

Figure 8 is a se-ction on the line 8-8 of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a detail of the top plate thereof;

Figure 10 is a side elevation of the traction front wheel, support andsteering mechanism;

Figure 11 is a section through the track and wheel supporting formsshowing the thrust and the'traction rollers;

Figure 12 is a section on the line I2-I2 of Figure 11;

Figure 13 is a section on the line l3-I3 of Figure l;

Figure 14 is a section on the line Ill-iii of Figure 1, and

Figure 15 is a detail view of the spring compensated means for adjustingthe weight exerted by the trailer on the towing vehicle.

In the drawings wherein like characters of ref erence are used todesignate like or similar parts throughout the several Views:

The numeral l designates the rear wheels of a towing vehicle, indicatedin dotted lines at 2. The numeral 3 designates the rearaxle, d the rearaxle casing, 5 the drive shaft housing, and 6 the transmission housing.The trailer is indicated in dotted lines at 'I and has a frame,including a transverse bar B and longitudinal bars 9.

A supporting plate Ill-see Figures 3 and 4- has downwardly dependingilanges Il, the forward flange being of less width than the rear flange,and is formed with three openings l2 to which the hitch bracket i3--seeFigures 5 and S-is attached by bolts or the like. The support carriesside blocks I 4 and a front end block I5, each of which has angularsides and an arcuate top IG. U-shaped shackles I3 are bolted through theblocks to the supporting plate; the forward shackle engaging over thedrive shaft housing with the block I5 clamped therebeneath, and theslotted bolt holes 2! for adjustment, and on the back plate are formedsaddle bearings 2l to carry the transverse steering rod or bar 22,having stop lugs 22 which bear against the sides of the saddle bearings2l for holding the bar 22 against lateral movement, as shown inFigure 1. A locking plate 23, over which the tongue 25 of the bracketextends holds the bar 22 in the bearings 2l-see Figure 9. The bar 22 hasa bearing block 2S formed with a vertical bore to receive the king bolt2l to hook the hollow tongue 28 to the bar. The plate 2S is attached tothe tongue by a pin 29, and the king bolt 2l passes through a slot 3Q inthe plate. A radius bar 3l, having a V-shaped semi-circular track 32 isformed on the ends of the bar 2.2 and carries the two sections 33 and31% of a steering cable, the ends of which are attached at 35 to flangesrIhe cable 33 has sections 3d which pass into the tongue and aboutopposed rollers 3l journalled between ears 36 on the tongue and extendlengthwise of the tongue within the tongue. The tongue has a plate 39 towhich pin 29 is attached and the remaining end is attached by amanually-operable bolt i9 in slot il and by means of which the coverplate 23 may be withdrawn from under the tongue 25 to permit the bar 22to be uncoupled from the bearings 2`l that are attached to the towingvehicle 2. The free end of the tongue has a transverse bar 2 reinforcedby flanges 13 and provided with internally threaded bores M in the ends.The tongue has a bar extension iT- see Figures 1 and 7.

Mounted on the transverse bar 8 and longitudinal bars 9 of the traileris a forward extension having converging side bars 53 which aretransversely reinforced as at @.9 and have their ends attached toparallel pull bars E@ which are pivotally mounted on bolts l threaded inbores ld of transverse bar l2 of the tongue. Thus, the tongue 28 ishinged at the front through the bar 22 and at the rear through the bolts5l, thereby allowing the towing vehicle 2 and the trailer l to moverelative to each other, in an up-anddown direction, when travelling. Acircular front wheel supporting track ring Ell has an annular outsideand depending ilange 55, see Figure 12, and is secured by uprights e9 tothe bars l-see Figure 10. Beneath the ring is a circular V- shapedsteering cable ring 5S on which is mounted the circular wheel carryingring Sl--see Figures 12 and 14. The wheel carrying ring 5l' is smallerthan track ring 5d and ts within the llange 55 in spaced relationthereto and carries bearing rollers 58 and 59 which are at right anglesto each other and bear against ring Eli and frange 55. Diametricallyopposed ngers 5d cooperate with rollers 59 which are journalled in legs62 extending from parallel wheel frames 6l on which are mounted leafsprings 62, to retain the ring 5l adjacent to the ring 5B. The ends ofsprings 52 are shackled as at t3 and beneath which is shackled as at Silthe bearings 65 of the hub 5E of trailer front wheel 6l. The cable 3Sgoes about the cable ring 55. Cable tubes @El are provided to guide andsupport the cable `from the tongue 28 to the cable ring.

Mounted on the ring 5d are dash pots or closed end tubes 69 in which aresprings '5E about rods 'il which carry the plate l2. These rods arethreaded to receive adjusting nuts i3, and the plate l2 Carries a rod lewhich has a biurcated end l5 pivotally connected to tongue member llthrough the bolt E32-see Figure 1li-for adjusting the weight to beextended by the trailer on the 4 tongue and on the towing vehicle and tosustain shocks.

As previously explained, the tongue 2S and the pull bars 5&1 are pivotedtogether by the pivot bolts El. The degree of relative movement betweentongue 28 and pull bars 52, and thereby the effective weight by thetrailer on the towing vehicle 2, can be varied by adjusting the nuts 13.Thus, when it is desired to increase, or load down, the towing vehicle 2to obtain an increase in traction for wheels l, the nuts 'i3 are screweddown on the rods ll compressing the springs 76. Compressing the springsl@ increases the resistance to relative movement between the tongue 23and the pull bars 5S, thereby in elect transferring a portion of theweight of trailer l' to the vehicle 2.

When the vehicle 2 changes its direction of travel, the bar 22 will turnwith the vehicle rear axle l, pivoting about king bolt 2l and drawingwith it either section 33 or 34, as the case may be, causing EG-B torotate the trailer front wheel (il, as a result of which the trailerfollows the Vehicle in its change of direction.

From the foregoing it is believed that the operation and advantages ofmy invention will be apparent, but it is again emphasized thatinterpretation of its scope should only be conclusive when made in thelight of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. Means for supporting a trailer front wheel and steering the same froma towing vehicle, comprising a front wheel carrying frame on thetrailer, a circular track on the frame, a circular member, a front wheelSupported thereby, a circular cable ring attached to the circular wheelsupport, rollers attached to the circular member and engaging saidcircular track, a tongue, an adjustable resilient connection meansbetween the wheel carrying frame and said tongue, said tongue beinghollow, a hitch support carried by the towing vehicle, a transverse barconnected with the hitch support means pivoting said bar to said tongue,and a steering cable moans connecting said bar and said cable ring.

2. Means for supporting a trailer front wheel and steering the same froma towing vehicle, comprising an extension on the trailer chassis forcarrying the front wheel, a hollow tongue pivotally connected to theextension, a track ring on the extension, a wheel carrying ring,anti-friction rollers on the wheel carrying ring and engaging the trackring, a wheel supporting frame on the wheel carrying ring, a cablesupporting ring on the wheel carrying ring, an adjustable resilientconnection means between the track ring and the tongue, a hitch supporton the towing vehicle, a transverse bar attached to the hitch support,means pivotally connecting said bar to said tongue, an arcuate cabletrack attached to said bar, and a steering cable extending about thecable ring, through the tongue, about the arcuate cable track and havingits ends connected with the same.

3. The invention as dened in claim 2 wherein the hitch support has asupporting plate shackled to the rear axle housing and the drive shaftcasing of the towing Vehicle, a bracket mounted on said hitch support,saddle bearings on said bracket on which the transverse bar is pivoted,and a king bolt pivoting said tongue to a medial point of said bar.

4. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein the arcuate cable trackis V-shaped in cross-section and is fixed near its ends to the ends ofsaid transverse bar, and guide rollers rotatably mounted in said tonguefor guiding said cable.

5. 'I'he invention as dened in claim 2 wherein the track ring has anannular, right angular depending ange, and wherein the rollers are atright angles to each other, respectively, and engage the ring and flangerespectively, and wherein the cable ring is V-shaped and :fixed to thewheel supporting ring,

6. The invention as dene'd in claim 2 wherein the adjustable resilientconnection means includes a pair of springs, cylinders, rods in thecylinders connected by a plate, and about which rods the springs aremounted, and a rod on the plate connected with the tongue.

7. The invention as defined `in claim 2 wherein the cable ring, thewheel supporting ring, and the track ring are supported one above theother respectively, and the wheel is resiliently journalled above all ofsaid rings, and said rings are supported above the trailer frameextension, which extension has converging side rails, and reinforcingmeans, and wherein the cable has guide tubing from the tongue to thecable ring.

8. In a towing mechanism between a towing vehicle and a trailer, thecombination of an eX- tension support secured to said trailer, a cylin*drical track attached to said extension support and having a peripheralilange, a cylindrical member rotatable within said track, anti-frictionmeans secured to said cylindrical member and rotatable upon saidcircular track and flange thereof, retaining means fixed to saidycylindrical member and sliding upon said peripheral flange, saidretaining means cooperating with said antifriction means for maintainingsaid cylindrical member within said circular track, a trailer wheel,spring means supporting the same on said cylindrical member, a cablesheave on said cylindrical member, a hollow draw bar, pull bars attachedto said extension support, means pivoting said pull bars to one end ofsaid draw bar for relative oscillatory movement thereabout, a springmechanism secured to said extension support and pivoted to said draw barfor controlling the degree of oscillatory movement between said draw barand said pull bars, a transverse bar, means pivoting the same to theother end of said draw bar, a segmental sheave aixed to said bar, cablemeans trained over said cable sheave and said segmental sheave, meanssecuring the terminal ends of said cable means yto said segmental sheaveand means detachably securing said transverse bar to the towing Vehicle.

FRED C. BURT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Switzerland Dec. 16, 1933

